Textile material of low luster and method of making the same



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TEXTILE MATERIAL OF LOW LUSTER AND METHOD OFMAKING THE SAME Camille Dreyfus, New York, N. Y., and William Whitehead,

Cumberland, Md., assignors to Celanesc Corporation of America, acorporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application October 5, 1929, SerialNo. 397 I34 1 Claim. (CL 8-20) This invention relates to the preparationof textile material containing organic derivatives of cellulose, whichtextile material has a subdued luster.

5 An object of our invention is to subdue the luster of textilematerials comprising organic derivatives of cellulose in an economicalmanner. A further object of our invention is to impart a subdued lusterto textile materials containing organic derivatives of cellulose, whichsubdued luster is more permanent than those previously obtamed.

Further objects of our invention are described in the following detaileddescription.

We have found that if a textile material containing a derivative ofcellulose is subjected to the action of a mixture of a solvent for thederivative of cellulose and a nonsolvent therefor, in properproportions, the luster of the same is reduced.

:0 In accordance with our invention, we apply to a textile materialcontaining an organic derivative of cellulose a substance containing amixture of a solvent and a nonsolvent for the derivative of cellulose inany suitable manner.

55 The textile material whose luster is to be reduced may be in any formsuch as yarns, filaments, artificial bristles or straw, films, orfabrics or braids containing such yarns, bristles or straw.

The textile material, as stated, contains an or- ;o ganic derivative ofcellulose such as organic esters of cellulose and cellulose ethers.Examples of organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, celluloseformats, cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate, while examples ofcellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and benzylcellulose. The textile material need not consist wholly of such organicderivatives of cellulose but may contain other fibres such as cotton,reconstituted cellulose, silk or wool.

To reduce the luster, a substance containing a mixture of a solvent anda nonsolvent for the derivative of cellulose is applied to the textilematerial. Examples of solvents for such derivatives of cellulose areacetone, ethylene dichloride, mixtures of ethylene dichloride and ethylor methyl alcohol, mixtures of methylene chloride and ethyl or methylalcohol, dichlor ethylene, diethylene dioxide. Examples of nonsolventsof derivatives of cellulose are xylene, benzene, toluene, mesitylene,water, alcohol, etc. Obviously since the various derivatives ofcellulose have different solubility characteristics, the choice ofliquids which are solvents or nonsolvents will depend on the specificderivative of cellulose emnot a solvent for the derivative of cellulosein the 5 textile material but has marked swelling power. By wayofillustration, if the textile materialcontains an acetone solublecellulose acetate, the use of a mixture of 60 to 80 parts of acetone and40 to 20 parts of xylene gives very satisfactory results. The amount ofthe mixture employed is generally from 10 to 40% of the weight of thetextile material to which it is applied.

The mixture of solvent and nonsolvent may be applied to the textilematerial in any desired manner. Thus in case yarn, bristles or straw areto be treated, it may be applied while the same is in transit eitherfrom the spinning machine, in which it is made, or from a package onwhich it is wound, to a bobbin or other packaging device. The mixture inthis case may be applied to the moving yarn and the like by means ofwicks, rollers or discs. In order to obtain yarn, bristles or strawhaving differential luster effects, the delustering mixture may beapplied intermittently in any suitable manner. The yarn, bristles andthe like may be made either by a dry spinning method or by a wetspinning method. In case fabrics are to be delustered, the delusteringmixture of solvent and nonsolvent may be applied to the whole of eitheror both surfaces of the fabric, or it maybe applied 10- cally byspraying or brushing the mixture throughstencils onto the fabric, or themixture may be applied in the form of a printing paste by means ofsuitable engraved or embossed rollers.

when relatively smaller amounts of the mixed solvent and nonsolvent forthe derivative of cellulose are applied and/or if relatively smallerproportions of solvent are employed in the mixture, the deluster eifectis confined more or less to the surface of the filaments or yarn.

:Textile materials when delustered in accordance with this inventionhave a beautiful appearance of subdued luster, and such delusteringeffect is more permanent than has been the case heretofore. The textilematerial that has been delustered in accordance with this invention isnot readily rendered lustrous by such treatments asironing at elevatedtemperature when it is damp.

Yarn of subdued luster in accordance with this invention is eminentlysuited for making hosiery, both men's and women's, where its lusterproat duces a pleasing effect. The yarn may also be employed for makingknit fabric, both circular knit and warp knit, for use in underwear andfor other purposes, as well as for making woven fabrics of all kinds.

In order further to illustrate our invention the following specificexamples are given.

Example I- Yarn of 150 denier containing 40 filaments made of an acetonesoluble cellulose acetate is wound under 2 grams tension at the rate of100 meters per minute onto a bobbin or other suitable package. On itsway to the winding bobbin, and at a distance of about 3 feet or morefrom such bobbin, the yarn is brought in contact with a wick, roller orother furnishing device, which applies thereto a mixture consisting of70% of acetone and 30% of xylene by volume. The amount of mixtureapplied is about 30% of the weight of the yarn.

The yarn so treated has a pleasing subdued luster and is more opaquethan it was before treatment. Examination of the yarn under themicroscope shows that this opacity is confined to the portion of theyarn at or near the surface. The yarn so treated, when ironed damp, doesnot reluster or gain its original appearance readily.

Example II Cellulose acetate yarn is treated in the manner precisely asin Example I, except as a delustering medium, a mixture consisting of 40parts by weight of acetone and parts by weight of water is employed, andthis vis applied to the extent of 20% of the weight of the yarn.

Example III ning process or a wet or precipitating spinning process.

' Example IV Fabrics, films and like material made of cellulose acetateare covered with stencil sheets having any desired design cut therein.Either of the solvent mixtures described in Examples I or II are sprayedor brushed over the stencil. The result is that a design in'a delusteredpattern is produced on the fabric, films or like product.

' Example V To print delustered effects on a fabric containing celluloseacetate yarn, a printing paste containing the mixture of xylene andacetone of Example I is made by thickening such mixture with a suitablethickening agent such as calcium resinate, aluminum resinate or othersuitable metallic soaps. fled or dissolved, improve such thickened massby suitably reducing the adhesive properties of the mass for the printrolls. This thickened mixture may be applied by any suitable printingmachine, and there is obtained a printed pattern of subdued luster on alustrous background.

Where water insoluble thickeners are employed, these may be removed bywashing in suitable solvents therefor such as benzene and the like.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is givenmerely by way of illustration, and that many variations may be madetherein, without departing from'the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

The method of reducing the luster of a textile material containingcellulose acetate comprising applying thereto a nonsolvent mixture of 30parts by volume of xylene and parts by volume of acetone.

CAMILLE DREYFUS. WILLIAM WHITEHEAD.

Small amounts of oils, emulsi-

